Videos tagged “hugging”

Download song: http://simonpanrucker.bandcamp.com/track/hug-you-like-koalas
IMPORTANT!
Koalas can find it very stressful and exhausting to be handled by humans, so if you want a hug you should wait for the koala to make the first move. It's just simple etiquette.
More facts about koalas:
1. Koalas have a very low metabolic rate which means they have to conserve energy by sleeping for around 20 hours a day.
2. Koalas are not bears, they are marsupials of course.
3. The best Youtube comment I found while looking for koala videos was this: 'I WANT TO FEED A KOALA A SANDWICH END OF DISCUSSION'
(Koalas only really eat eucalyptus leaves so it probably wouldn't want that nasty old sandwich, but it's a nice image.)
I used a lot of videos from Youtube and Vimeo to make this. By way of crediting them, here is a list of videos used in the order they appear:
https://vimeo.com/9925570
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk66WfMQspg
https://vimeo.com/9067902
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K30CVdPSCQY
https://vimeo.com/44628819
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JXrdxM0_V8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCnmoK_O7VM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KW3E9uikgI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGH8qCrMSRY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJW6evqd4Oo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuIv3w-xnDg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weqsBVdwsdg
https://vimeo.com/19861546
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irrr4ISn5ps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGKomvAY8oU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc0wInifnos
https://vimeo.com/36545764
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mULFIc7E1OM
https://vimeo.com/34719677
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtfxgWtvn7c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWptrCqsijg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uog3AwBhfjI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXHAvfAASGQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zHWQQ7I40k
https://vimeo.com/2255031

I saw Elza's ad one day on an expat forum saying she was going to be giving out 'Free Hugs' in HCMC. Immediately I knew that this was the perfect place to start if I wanted to document brilliant people doing beautiful things in the city; there's something kinda revealing about how people react to the unexpected warmth of a stranger. It takes a special kind of someone to accept that there are no ulterior motives, no hidden agendas, just a genuine desire to be affectionate towards another human being.
In London – where I was living up until 6 months ago – it is common practice to flat-out ignore your fellow commuters, even your neighbours, and so I know all too well this feeling that strangers are indelibly separate from yourself, that they are not to be talked to or communicated with. And this has to be some of the reason why so many are lonely and alienated – if strangers are the enemy, exactly how are we as adults supposed to create strong communities, begin awesome friendships, and eliminate – or at least reduce - prejudice?
This is why Elza's little project spoke to me. Free Hugs is not a new concept, but I am new to this city and not only did I want to find out more about what makes the people of this country tick, I also wanted some encouragement to be more open, even with those who don't speak my language. We had been told that the Vietnamese were not very affectionate people; Elza would apparently have a very hard time persuading a stranger to touch her, let alone hug her.
This could not have been more wrong...
There were Vietnamese queuing for hugs, running for hugs, giggling, grinning and giving high-fives during hugs. She persuaded bin-women and souvenir-sellers to take hugs, conical hats knocked off heads all over the shop. School-girls and kids, xe-om drivers and men in suits; they were all Vietnamese, and a good wedge of them gave the kind of hugs you'd expect from a reunion with a long-lost friend. From a nation apparently closed and unaffectionate came the most incredible warmth, to the point where at times I was moved to tears.
In a world so disconnected, we need more of people like Elza; people who are incurably happy and eager to spread that happiness even to those who are at first reluctant. A gentle cajoling in the form of a Free Hug – or even a Free Smile - from a stranger can teach us something about how to be less fearful, more open and better able to pass on the love to those who need it most.

Misty and I were counselors this year at summer camp, and I couldn't help pulling out my camera and shooting some people.
I also learned some new tricks in iMovie that I hadn't used previously, like transitions and themes. It came out looking good, if a bit cookie cutter.
Enjoy. Or not.
Music:
"Forever Young" by Youth Group
"Such Great Heights" by Postal Service
"Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol

27 Sep 2011, Amritapuri
Amma’s 58th Birthday Celebrations began at 5:00 a.m. with Mahaganapati Homam performed by Surya Kaladi Jayasuryan Bhattatiripad on the program grounds at Amritapuri campus of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. This was followed by the chanting of the Sri Lalita Sahasranama for world peace.
Read & See More: http://v.amritapuri.org/2011/767.aum
Full Article:: http://www.amritapuri.org/13426/11unity.aum